The Many Disturbing Thoughts Of MirrorDemonNema
by MirrorDemonNema
Summary: First story here, be nice. These are my stories from DA. There is smut in chapter 2! You have been warned.
1. What's This?

L4D-1 ... What's This...?  
by ~MirrorDemonNema

Bored. Bored, bored, bored, BORED! It was the same dreary thing every damn day. The doctors peeked in his room, came in, and started talking to him. Sometimes, they brought something that may have been food at one time, but he had no appetite for it. For a laugh, he would bite the doctors and nurses, but they put this stupid bite mask on him. He had stopped fighting the straitjacket a long time ago, but he was figuring out how to get around with it. The young boy could independently stand up and walk around now. He had been locked away in this cell for a very long time, around the time he painted that pretty picture with the neighbor girl. She had the most beautiful crimson paint he had ever used.  
"...What's this...?" He muttered, seeing a change in the monotonous pattern of the institution. His long, thick, blue hair hung down in front of his face as he leaned forward. The lights flickered and everything went dark. A loud clank signalled that the heavy iron door was now unlocked. He cautiously got to his feet and walked over to the door. The padded floor was cold to his bare feet. Unable to see anything, the boy leaned up against the door and it opened. There were some people, doctors and patients alike, lumbering around the halls.  
That's odd... He pondered silently. He couldn't help but grin as he walked around. Darius doesn't get in trouble! He snickered, remembering last time he got caught outside of his cell. His steps were slow and uneven, due to the simple fact that he'd been in that little room for far too long. As he approached some of the people, he noticed that they had dried blood all over them and their eyes were blank.  
"How lovely!" Darius exclaimed, joyous that others were seeing the beauty of the red paint. Some of them made a low growl as he felt something grab his leg. When he looked down, he saw that a man with twisted legs had ahold of his ankle and bit down on his foot. Jerking his now-injured foot away from the man's mouth, he almost lost his balance. Sensing the danger, he fled awkwardly the other way. Not knowing or caring where he was going, the boy rammed a set of double doors with his shoulder and suddenly found himself outside. The city was in ruin, wrecked cars and random fires littered the streets. Darius laughed maniacally at the beautiful chaos that ran rampant through the city. "This'll be fun!" He shouted so loud, the night sky agreed with him.  
**********

His body ached as he walked around the empty(ish) streets. His thin lips felt numb as he breathed heavily, trudging along to nowhere. Exhausted, he found a nice little hidey-hole to sleep in. As he laid down, he coughed heavily, sick with something. Angrily yelling at the unseen ailment, he curled into a tiny ball, pain wracking his entire body.  
"Make it stop!" Darius shouted to no one. "Stop it now!" His ravings continued. The overall pain increased, overwhelming the boy. He shook his head madly, shouting at the top of his lungs to drown out the pain. His screams turned into long, eerie howls. He opened his mouth so wide, his cheeks began to tear.  
"What the hell is that racket?" An angry, raspy voice demanded. Darius' pained screams diminished to pained groans.  
"Who... who's there?" The blue-haired boy asked nervously, mostly afraid of what was happening to him. A thick, dry coughing got louder as someone poked their head into the alley. Tumory-things covered one side of his face and his skin was dark and discolored, but the dead giveaway(lol) that he was Infected was the absurdly long tongue that hung from the tall man's mouth.  
"What the...?" He muttered quietly, bringing a cigarette up to his lips as he stepped closer. Unable to use his arms, Darius used his feet to kick away from the zombie.  
"Leave Darius alone!" He pleaded pitifully. Unable to tell whether he was coughing or laughing, the boy looked warily at the smokey zombie.  
"You're pretty funny." He laughed/coughed. "Since you're talking to me, you're obviously one of us." He explained, bemused.  
"What...? What do you mean?" The boy demanded.  
"You can call me Graham." The Smoker introduced himself casually. "Cain's around here somewhere, but you'll be fine." he puffed on his ciggie. Darius may have been crazy, but this was too much.  
"What's going on...?" He asked quietly, scared of his alien surroundings and predicament. Graham looked at him, surprised.  
"You really don't know?" He hacked. "You're Infected. As am I." He explained rather bluntly.  
"Infect...ed?" The blue-haired boy repeated slowly.  
"You don't know about the Infection? Wow, you must've been in there for a while..." Graham made a pitiful attempt at a whistle. "To put it simply, people who aren't Infected are going to shoot at people who are Infected. Us." He continued. "So we do what we can to kill them." This piqued the boy's interest. "Belive it or not, it's really fun." The Smoker chuckled.  
"...really fun..." Darius said quietly, toying with the idea as he remembered the pretty red paint. A wry smile formed along his torn lips. "Darius is happy to meet Graham..." His mind wrapped around the new reality. "Will Darius get to paint with their blood?" He asked hopefully. Graham smiled slyly, seeing Darius' insanity and not caring.  
"Only the best." He nodded, coughing as he did so. "Only the best paint, Darius." Graham repeated, seeing the mad joy dancing in the Screamer's eyes. 


	2. Lolwut?

Her mournful cries echoed all around her, silencing everything nearby. Her memory was tattered and she was unable to remember the one who once made her happy. The one who watched her now. The Tank quietly let out a low, rumbling sigh, knowing that he couldn't get near her. Any sudden movement or noise would set her on a dangerous rampage. He couldn't talk to her about her memory, not only because that would count as noise, but he couldn't talk at all. When he was near her, he was calm and capable of logical thought, but any other time, he was just an overly aggresive Tank. The Tank silently(as much as he could) left, not wanting to depress himself anymore. As he got farther away, his temper got hotter, and he got louder and more irritable. He angrily swatted some cars in his path to vent, but it only did so much...  
I will always love you, Zach... She would say. When Brenna said something, she always meant it, but the Infection was out of her control. There was nothing she could do to remember her past, and it made him angry that he couldn't do anything for her. He huffed loudly, needing something to take his mind off the past. Something to kill. Survivors. He let out something that may have been a hoarse laugh as he saw them running down the street. But he was distracted by what was between the survivors and himself. A blue-haired boy in a straitjacket was frantically running towards him, and it looked awkward since his arms were bound by the coat. His skin was a sick, pale color, showing that he was Infected, but the boy made no attempt to attack the survivors like the rest of these stupid Common Infected. The four were blindly chasing after him, guns blazing away and not even noticing Zach as he just stood there. The scared boy let out a manic scream as he ran closer to the massive Tank. The telltale sound of the horde echoed around them, exciting the Tank. Letting out a loud roar of his own, he ripped up a piece of the road and hurled it over the Screamer's head at the survivors.  
"Holy Shit!" He heard one of the survivors exclaim, seeing the flying rock. Common Infected flooded into the street and swarmed the survivors. It was many more than a Boomer's horde. The blue-haired Screamer hid behind Zach's thick arm and peeked at the unfortunate survivors. The Tank dubiously looked at him from the corner of his eye. With a yell, Zach simply left the Screamer and joined in the fight, pounding on human and zombie alike. He was thinking about the little Screamer boy, though. Why would he hide behind him? In the fray, he found his favorite survivor to pound fighting off some regular zombies.  
"Behind you!" Zoey alerted Francis to the giant Tank behind him. Zach made something reminescient of laughter as he smashed the tiny survivors.  
"Nooo!" Louis shouted as he was caught by a Smoker's tongue. Since there was no Hunter around, chances were pretty likely that it wasn't Graham. The Tank kept the other survivors from rescuing him. The raw chaos was so delicious, it made his mouth water. The Smoker's victim died, then the old man wasn't too far behind. Panic flashed across the remaining two's faces as Francis looked to Zoey. As Zach readied for the final blow, he saw the methed-out, biker idiot reach down and cop a feel.  
"ACK-! HEY!" Zoey angrily glared at him as the Tank brought his huge fists down on them. A nice crunch said that they were dead, but he wasn't ready to stop yet. Zach finished off the lingering Commons, smacking them like little bugs. When he was done(out of zombies to kill), he tromped away. A soft, padding sound behind him brought the Tank's attention to the Screamer following him.  
"Does Darius follow?" He asked quietly. Again looking dubiously at the blue-haired boy, he saw that his bare feet were cut up and bloody. He didn't seem to care, though... "Darius helps." The kid smiled pitifully. There was something about this boy that made the Tank think twice... actually think about him. Zach huffed as he picked Darius up and put him on his back.  
**********

After a while of meandering, Darius had drifted off to sleep on Zach's back. The Tank had been thinking about this kid for the whole time.  
"I see you've found Darius." A raspy voice said. Zach looked up to see Graham sitting on a rooftop, puffing on a cigarette. The Tank made a series of simple grunts and growls, not even really intending on saying anything. The Smoker made a face. "Still can't talk, eh? Sorry to hear that..." Graham said sadly. "But, I think the two of you will get along nicely." He chuckled as his mood lightened. He was thinking about Darius' handy horde summoning ability and the Tank's love for destruction. After a series of coughs, he flicked away his spent cigarette. Standing up as he looked out on the city, Graham let out a broken sigh. "I'd best be off before Cain comes looking for me." He suggested aloud, fully aware of the tension between Zach and the Hunter. Feeling his sleeping companion slipping, Zach put his hand up to steady him.  
"Where is Darius...?" Darius muttered in his sleep. That restless feeling was pestering the Tank again, irritating him thoroughly. He looked for somewhere safe to put the Screamer so he wouldn't get hurt when the seemingly imminent fight broke out. His search didn't take long and resulted in an empty storage unit. Not being the most graceful thing, he clumsily half-dropped Darius onto a pile of blankets. Seeing that his sleep was relatively undisturbed, Zach quietly exited the building. It was the distant Hunter's cries that confirmed the survivors' presence, but for some strange reason, he didn't feel like participating. He blamed Cain's just being there for that. A low growl showed his disgust for the Hunter.  
"Did Darius do something wrong?" The Screamer asked shyly, having woken up from his rest. That anxious feeling welled up again, and Zach looked back and forth between the Screamer and the chaos of the survivors. He took a few thunderous steps towards Darius and looked at him closely. The Screamer didn't move back until Zach took another step closer. Now the situation was completely in the Tank's control. He continued to advance until Darius had backed into a wall. When he tried to sidestep out of the way, Zach used his massive arm as a blockade. He leaned in close to Darius, his breaths getting heavier. The Screamer looked nervously at him, unable and unwilling retaliate. Zach's regression spiked and he grabbed Darius by the arm and turned him around, pressing him against the wall. The Screamer began to protest, but the Tank didn't care. He roughly worked his hand under the coarse jacket and slipped his thick fingers under the brim of his pants. "Darius is scared!" He was obviously startled by the Tank's actions. Zach only grunted as he twisted his hand and slid it downward, feeling the soft skin under his palm. Zach huffed as he felt Darius tense up. Satisfied that the Screamer wasn't going anywhere, the Tank removed his hand from the wall and undid his fly. Darius caught his breath as Zach let out a low growl and tensed even more. Surprised that he was actually enjoying this, Zach took things a step further and snapped the buckle on the coat that bound Darius. Using his newly-freed arms as support, the Screamer gasped heavily as the Tank had his way with him. Everything that had made the Tank angry went through his mind, causing him to pump harder and faster. He put his hand back on the wall and dug his fingers in to use for leverage. Darius put his hand down on the Tank's, gripping it as tightly as he could. The Screamer moaned as Zach kept going harder and harder. The Tank could feel his frustration manifesting. Moaning and trembling under his touch, the Screamer made heavy, shaky breaths as he bit his lip and surrendered to the Tank. Zach leaned in close, breathing on the back of Darius' neck. The Tank dug his feet in the ground and began grinding so hard, Darius was lifted off of the floor. The Screamer slipped his slender hand in Zach's giant paw. The Tank grunted and growled loudly as he flexed every great muscle in his body. He tensed as he felt an odd sensation as he continued making love to Darius. His movements became slow, heavy, and deliberate, tantalizing the both of them. Darius moaned sensually, arousing the Tank even further. He jerked upward, causing the Screamer to gasp loudly. All of Zach's pent-up frustration left him as he groaned. He felt it all leave him as he relaxed. Darius gasped heavily as he leaned against Zach's wide chest. The Screamer's legs trembled as Zach removed his hand from his pants, with his arms hanging limply at his sides. He slid down, dazed by the possibly traumatizing experience. Zach caught him and eased him down, not wanting him to hurt himself. Darius belonged to him now, and he was going to keep it that way. He had provided the Tank with several ways to vent, and there was something else about him that made the Tank want to keep him close. Darius now laid on the floor, weakly looking up at Zach from the corner of his eye. His clothes were dishevelled and his pants were around his thin thighs. Zach huffed as he sat up against a wall and pulled Darius to him. The Screamer tried to resituate and fix his pants, but Zach rested his arm around him. He looked up to see the Tank dozing off.  
"Darius has a friend?" He asked gently. Zach let out a rumbling sigh in something of a sleepy response. Darius experimentally pulled up his sleeves slowly, and looked at the hands he hadn't seen in so many years. His gaze lingered on the hand that had been in Zach's. "Darius has a friend..." He whispered, smiling that awkward smile of his. He rested his head on Zach's chest, reaching up to feel the Tank's fire-red hair. He wasn't sure about what had just happened, but if it meant that he got to stay with Zach, then so be it. "Darius never had a friend before..." The Screamer sighed as he lavished the new concept. 


	3. Raising Cain

A/N: Sorry about the sudden smut in the previous chapter. There will be warnings from now on. Anyway, Now to meet more of the group!

:D

"Are you an idiot?" Graham choked, caught off guard by friend's stupid idea.

"Whaat?" Cain laughed at the Smoker's response. "Come on, it'll be fun!" He coaxed. Reaching into his pocket, Graham pulled out a worn box of cigarettes.

"He'll kick your ass..." He said irritably, lighting up his ciggie. "Again." He exhaled, a huge puff of smoke just missing the Hunter's head.

"Whatever! I'm ready for him this time." The Hunter boasted.

"I'm sure..." Graham puffed on his cigarette. "Next time Zach gets ahold of you, I might not even be able to help." He warned sternly.

"What do you mean?" Cain asked, his bravado interrupted.

"I mean, he's almost fully regressed." Graham said morosely. "He can't talk, and he can barely control his anger." He explained.

"All because of Brenna? No way." The Hunter shook his head. Brenna and Zach had been very close, but the Infection laid waste to her memories, causing her to fade. It wasn't too long afterward that the Tank had become depressed and started to lose himself. Everyone just avoided her now, not wanting to disturb her.

"Although she does play a big part in it..." The Smoker tilted his head in thought. "But it's not just her." He said, looking up at his friend. The Hunter was sitting up on an A.C. unit, looking out at the zombie-city. "You still want to fight him, don't you?" Graham's long tongue curled upward in annoyance.

"Damn straight! Even more so now that he's regressing!" Cain growled at the thought.

"You realize that it pisses him off more than anything, right?" Graham asked exasperatedly.

"Yeah." The Hunter sighed heavily. "But if I don't beat him before he's totally gone, then it just won't be any fun!" He explained. Graham quietly puffed on his cigarette.

"You're a damn adrenaline junkie, you know that?" He asked, the tip of his tongue continuing to curl.

"Yeah, let's go!" Cain said, more or less ignoring the Smoker's warnings. Flicking away the spent cigarette, Graham sighed heavily as he stood up.

"After this, though, you leave him the hell alone." The Smoker said, knowing that the Hunter would have similar, and just as embarassing results as last time. They headed off to Zach's side of town.

A number of wrecked and overturned cars littered the street, buildings were missing entire walls, and there were large holes in the road where the asphault had been ripped up. The sheer amount of destruction made it look like there had been a war here. There weren't even any Common Infected around here, except for their broken bodies lining the sidewalks and fences. It made the two nervous just walking down the street.

"What in the hell happened here...?" Cain almost whispered, feeling quite small.

"He is called a Tank for a reason..." Graham said just as quietly while he tried to curb his coughing.

"Brenna's been through here, too, it seems." The Hunter pointed to a body with large gashes in it. The Smoker continued to look around anxiously.

"You know that feeling you get that you're being watched?" Graham muttered as he took out his pack of cigarettes.

"The kind that makes you paranoid? The one I've got now?" Cain asked, getting the exact same feeling. They slowly turned to see what they had been looking for, but they didn't expect him to be so close. A low, gutteral growl rumbled the air as Zach glared at Cain. Graham was fine, Zach didn't have a problem with him. But Cain was in VERY dangerous water. "Heyy Zach..." The Hunter chuckled nervously. "Did you get *gulp*... bigger?" He commented. The Tank had indeed gotten larger since they last saw each other, but he was not amused.

"Cain..." Graham said quietly, leaning in close to the Hunter. "One hit and it's over for either of us. Let's just go." He pleaded, seeing that Zach wouldn't hold back should a fight start. The red-headed Tank sneered as he made a huffing sound and turned to walk away, setting off the Hunter.

"Heh heh heh... See that?" Cain scoffed loudly. The Smoker looked at him in disbelief, knowing what was coming next. "He knows that I'll beat him, so he's running away!" He bragged.

"PLEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAASSSSSSSE! Shut the fuck up!" Graham hacked loudly, not wanting to suffer for his friend's idiocy. Zach's walk slowed, but didn't stop. Cain knew he was going to have to try harder this time. He needed to hit a weak spot. A cruel and malicious thought twisted through his mind.

"I wonder how Brenna's doing, maybe I should check on her." He said loudly, even though he had no REAL intentions of seeing her. Bullseye. Zach froze, midstep, a stone's throw away from the two. The Smoker looked to his idiot friend in desperation.

"We Are Going To Die. :C" He said each word slowly. The Hunter didn't budge as the Tank looked around his shoulder at him. Graham backed away slowly, getting to a relatively safe(ish) place. Zach had the darkest look on his face as he continued to quietly glare. The silence was sickening.

"You heard me." Cain barked angrily. "I think Brenna's in need of some company." He repeated while making a lewd gesture. The massive Tank turned completely toward him and yelled loudly. The Hunter grinned as he crouched, readying himself for the imminent fight.

"For the record, Cain..." Graham was safely(?) on a high rooftop. "This is your fault." He pointed out. Before anymore could be said, the Tank dug his fingers into the asphault and ripped up a good-sized piece. He flung it at Cain, who just barely missed it by jumping out of the way. The ground shook as Zach ran to Cain's landing spot. Cain's hunter abilities gave him the power to jump incredible distances, but he was somewhat helpless whilst airborne. He landed dead in front of the Tank and saw the huge fist headed for him. He deftly sidestepped and dodged the hit, clawing at Zach's arm as he did so. It really wasn't enough to hurt him, but it did annoy him.

"Is that the best you've got? I hope not." Cain taunted, adding fuel to the fire. The angry Tank shouted as he swung his arm around, coming dangerously close to hitting the Hunter. From his high perch, Graham noticed something else down there as well.

"What is Darius still doing here...?" He muttered, puffing on a newly lit cigarette. It was the signature blue hair that gave the Screamer away, but a mental connection was made. "Oh no... This is about to get messy..." The Smoker coughed nervously as he looked back to the fight. Cain was perched atop a telephone pole, laughing at the Tank for not being able to get to him. Furiously ripping up another chunk of the road, Zach sent it flying skyward. It just clipped the Hunter's shoulder, knocking him of balance and he fell. Dangling from the perch, he looked down nervously at the Tank.

"Not good..." He grunted as he pulled himself up. The Hunter nimbly jumped down onto the Tank's back, the to the road, where he ran to his next plan of attack. Zach roared as he turned and gave chase to the irritating Hunter. As Cain ran, he saw a mid-sized car fly past his head and looked back to see that there was plenty more ammunition for the Tank to throw. He jumped up onto a wall and launched himself at the Tank, inflicting another scratch. This time, however, Darius saw it. Zach swung again, hit the Hunter, and sent him reeling. He flew and landed in a pile of corpses. "Ugh... What just happened...?" He groaned, dazed from the impact. The ground rumbling quickly reminded him of what was going on and he turned in time to see the Tank baring down on him. Hastily getting to his feet, he leapt over the giant zombie and began to climb the nearest building. The Hunter heard the sound of rock tearing and climbed faster. When he reached the roof, he was surprised to see Graham there as well, and the Smoker appeared equally surprised.

"Don't bring him up here, dumbass!" He hacked loudly. A loud whoosh behing Cain brought his attention to a large rock. What goes up must come down. The Hunter grabbed Graham and ran to the edge of the building. Ignoring the loud protests, he didn't stop and jumped onto the roof of the neighboring building just as the rock crashed behind them. It suddenly got very quiet as the two looked at each other nervously. Cain checked over the side of the building and found nothing as Graham lighted another cigarette, completely forgetting he still had one already lit.

"Umm... Where's Zach?" The Hunter asked, reasonably paranoid.

"FFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUU-!" Graham shouted as he saw the Tank climb up from behind his friend. Cain turned to see his stealty opponent and jumped back.

"Sorry, but I can't stay!" He shouted as he launched himself off the landing, he turned to find that he had lost track of the Tank yet again. "How the hell do I keep losing the biggest moving thing around?" He wondered at the paradox. Since there wasn't a cloud of smoke, he felt safe in assuming that Graham was alright. A crashing sound came down from the roof, instead, one slam after another. Next thing he knew, a dumpster came flying off of the rooftop. Landing extremely close to the Hunter, Zach jumped clean from the roof, startling Cain. Honestly afraid now, Cain stepped backwards from the approaching Tank, holding his hands up in surrender.

"Cain, get the hell out of there!" Graham shouted, fearful for his friend's life. The Hunter quickly checked to make sure he wouldn't trip over anything, and saw something less than reassuring: A pile of Hunter corpses.

"Eh heh..." He laughed nervously. "You've been practicing..." Cain looked up to see that Zach was standing over him now, looking down angrily at him. It made the Hunter feel insignificant. Graham readied to get his best friend out of there when the Tank lifted his giant fist. Cain cringed and shut his eyes, waiting for the impending pain. "About Brenna... You know I didn't mean any of that, right?" The Hunter apologized pitifully. He then felt himself lifted off of the ground by the back of his hoodie. When he heard Graham laughing/choking hysterically, he peeked out from under his hood to see that Zach had picked him up and was holding him off the ground. The Tank growled disgustedly as he glared at Cain.

"Eww... A Hunter!" Graham filled in the blank between laughs. This was exactly what had happened last time he fought with Zack! Even though it was funny as hell to see, neither Zach nor Cain were amused.

"You hurt Zach." A quiet voice stabbed, startling the two brawlers.

"Who the hell are you?" Cain snapped. The boy's loud, blue hair was distracting, but the angry Hunter tried to ignore it.

"You hurt Zach." He repeated. "Darius doesn't like you." The Screamer said simply. Zach kept the Hunter suspended in the air.

"I don't think that's a very good reason not to like someone." Cain said more or less to take the subject off of himself in hopes that the Tank would let him down. The Smoker climbed down from the roof, seeing how the fight was over, still getting a good laugh out of his friend's predicament.

"Good to see you again, Darius." Graham said to the Screamer. He looked at Darius, then at Cain, and smiled deviously. Zach knew that look all too well and snorted, amused by how the Smoker's mind worked. "Can I ask you something?" He asked the young boy. Darius looked to Zach in uncertainty, but the Tank gave a reassuring nod. The Screamer strolled over to Graham, just out of earshot while Zach kept the Hunter right where he wanted him; miserable. The temptation to simply kill him and be done with it was immense, to be sure, but he was eager to see what the conniving Smoker had in store for him. "Think you can do that for me?" He heard Graham finally ask.

"Uh-huh." Darius nodded happily.

"Alright... Zach?" The Smoker looked at his friend's enormous captor. The Tank aknowledged him. "Will you please let go of Cain?" He asked cautiously. It wasn't because he thought he was stupid or anything, but when Zach was angry and worked up, he didn't listen very well to anyone. Only the anticipation of Graham's plan could have made the Tank lose his grip, and the pissy Hunter plopped to the ground. Cain sttod up and brushed himself off.

"Damn... You win again..." He yeilded. Darius stood close to Zach as the two said their goodbyes. They turned and walked back the way they came, the Hunter sulking a little.

"Hey, Cain?" Graham looked over at his friend as they walked, truely glad that he wasn't walking alone.

"What?" The Hunter replied irritably, secretly happy that he was leaving fully intact with his close friend.

"Guess what Darius does?" The Smoker coughed loudly, waving back to Darius. Cain shot him an odd look as a manic howl echoed down the street. Then the horde came, and they were ALL focused on the Hunter.

"Graham, you asshole!" Cain shouted as he got mobbed on by the swarm of zombies.

"Maybe next time you'll listen to me when I say leave him alone!" The Smoker laughed at his friend. The Common Infected didn't hurt him, but they were loud and annoying. But, at least the two would get to see another day together. 


	4. Don't Leave Me Alone

A/N: Short chapter, I know. Zach gets his scars here.

His legs burned, but that didn't stop his mad run. He had awoken to find himself alone in the bed of an 18-wheeler. Years of little-to-no movement had taken its toll on him, diminishing his muscle power to nothing.

"Where is friend?" The Screamer rambled on. He ran down the quiet streets, looking for the one he called "Friend". His feet were cut up from broken glass and rocks, but he kept going. Going down a set of stone steps, Darius found himself in a dark room. The sound of crying put him on edge, knowing that sound all too well from the asylum. He began looking around for the source and found a small girl. She looked to be around his age, but he couldn't tell for sure. The thin girl sat on the cold floor, crying her heart out. Her clothes were in tatters and her skin was an unnaturally pale gray.

"...Why...?" She whimpered between sobs. Darius sat behind her, a sad look on his face.

"Did Darius do something wrong?" He asked morosely, not knowing why she was crying.

"...?" She gasped as she looked at him, surprised by his presence. The Witch looked dead at him, her vermillion eye glowing. He could see that she had heterochromia, one red eye and one blue. She started growling when he didn't move. The Screamer didn't realize the danger he was in as she rose to her feet.

"Will gray girl be Darius' friend?" Darius asked as he put his slender finger up to his torn lips. The gray girl let out a terrifying scream as she started running towards Darius, her gruesome claws out to her sides. Seeing that she wasn't going to glomp him, the Screamer started hastily for the door. Running back up the stairs and onto the street, he could hear the Witch close behind him. "Leave Darius alone, please!" He called over his shoulder, hoping that she would stop chasing him. His frantic running prevented him from noticing the rumbling around him. The Witch was hot on his heels, ready to tear him to pieces. Darius nearly choked when something snatched the back of his coat and pulled him back. He started screaming hysterically as he expected her to shred him. Darius quickly covered his face with his hands and curled up into a little ball in terror as he felt himself slam onto something metal. The Witch then started screaming horribly, confusing the boy. He peeked through his fingers to find himself on a fire escape platform, high off the ground. The gray girl had run away, leaving the Screamer alive. He looked down through the grates to see Zach below him. Darius was shaking uncontrollably, unable to shake the fear away. The Tank sighed heavily as he looked out on the street. Reaching through the metal bars, the Screamer's thin fingertips just barely touched Zach's skin. Not even looking away from where the Witch had disappeared to, Zach reached up and took the Screamer down from the metal platform. When he was back on the ground, Darius saw 4 large gashes in the Tank's arm, bleeding grievously.

"Does hurt?" He asked quietly, truly concerned for his friend. Zach looked at his arm absently and sighed deeply. Without looking at Darius, the Tank turned and walked away. He limped slightly due to his undoubtedly painful wounds. Tears had welled up in the Screamer's eyes as he ran after his only friend. "Please don't leave Darius! Please!" He sobbed. Zach stopped and turned to see Darius standing there, crying pitifully. He used the long sleeves of his straitjacket to wipe his face. "Don't leave Darius..." He hiccuped childishly. His azure hair hung down and covered his tear-stricken face. "Darius never had a friend before. Please... Don't leave Darius..." He pleaded sorrowfully. The Screamer was clearly miserable, but he was sincere. "Darius will never do that again." He promised childishly. Zach only stood there, blankly watching the Screamer. Darius took small, staggering steps toward the Tank. After a few moments of agonizing stillness, Zach reached out and pulled Darius to him. He touched the small boy's face and felt the relentless stream of tears. Darius weakly put his sleeve-covered hands on the Tank's massive chest. "Don't leave Darius alone..." The Screamer said shakily. Running his large fingers through the boy's hair, Zach rumbled as he sighed, finding himself uncapable of even considering leaving Darius. 


End file.
